2013 Spanish Grand Prix

Ferrari have added their voice to the criticism of the forthcoming change in tyre compounds at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Pirelli are making alterations to this year’s tyres following the high number of pit stops seen during last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.

Ferrari used its anonymous “Horse Whisperer” column on its official website to put forward its objections to the planned change:

“These are difficult times for people with poor memories. Maybe it?óÔé¼Ôäós because of the huge amount of information available today that people are too quick to talk, forgetting things that happened pretty much in the recent past. Or maybe the brain cells that control memory only operate selectively, depending on the results achieved on track by their owners.

“A classic example of this is the current saga regarding the number of pit stops. Voices have been raised to underline the fact that various teams, some of whom got to the podium and others who were quite a way off, made four pit stops in the recent Spanish Grand Prix, making the race hard to follow.

“It?óÔé¼Ôäós a shame that these worthy souls kept quiet two years ago when, at the very same Catalunya Circuit and on the Istanbul track, five of the six drivers who got to those two podiums made exactly the same number of pit stops as did Alonso and Massa last Sunday in the Spanish Grand Prix.

“In fact, there?óÔé¼Ôäós nothing new about winning a race making so many pit stops, even discounting those where it was down to changeable weather. One only has to look back to 2004, when Michael Schumacher won the French Grand Prix thanks to what was a three stop strategy, later changed to a four stopper. That was the key which allowed the multiple champion?óÔé¼Ôäós F2004 to get ahead of the then Renault driver, Fernando Alonso, who made three stops. And on that day and we remember it well, our strategy and the tyre supplier were showered with praise for allowing us to get the most out of the car.

“Today however, it seems one must almost feel ashamed for choosing a strategy that, as always for that matter, is aimed at getting the most out of the package one has available. On top of that, if this choice emerges right from the Friday, because all the simulations are unanimous in selecting it, then why on earth should one feel embarrassed when compared to those who have gone for a different choice, only to regret it during the race itself.”

181 comments on Ferrari join Lotus in criticising tyre revisions

Pirelli are to blame for this sorry mess. No one asked them to make the 2103 tyres so marginal, nor to be on the limits of what is safe – the FIA and Bernie have confirmed this. Their remit was simply to spice up the show by indroducing tyres that degrade a bit more. This they did in 2011 & 2102, however, they took it upon themselves to change the compounds in 2013 after the teams understood the tyres better by the end of 2012. Why, i will never know.

Regarding the comments made by the Horse Whisperer, whoever it is must have a very faint memory as Montezemulo and Alonso have both criticised these tyres before.
Also, whilst 4 pit-stops were also common last year, they were harder compounds, and importantly enough, the drivers were able to push on them. This is the main difference between 2012 and 2013. Making 4 stops whilst being unable to push is useless, and people have a right to gripe about it.
The Horse Whisperer should also remember that Red Bull still criticised the tyre after their 1-2 in Bahrain. Remember, in Barcelona, the Soft compound was changed for the Medium, and the Hard has already been made harder – Yet, there was extreme degradation. Pirelli, it seems are simply shooting from the hip when it comes to these tyres. They are as much confused by them as the teams are; and that is their fault for going radical when they didnt have to, no were required to.

Pirelli have no one to blame for this debacle. They should have kept quiet and simply got on with rectifying the issue. Instead, Hembery keeps talking, making excuses, apportioning blame, incessantly flipping, and stoking embers of favouritism. This should be a lesson of how not to do PR
He made excuses for extreme degardation in Barcelona during testing, he made a different excuse after the race. He made excuses for the constant delaminations. He made excuses for the amount of pit-stops. He made excuses about having no testing. He defends the tyres one moment, then changes them te next. He talks about the change favouring Red Bull and disadvantaging Lotus and Ferrari.

Methinks Pirelli are drunk on their own power. They realise how much influence they weild over the championship and cannot resist savouring their moment in the limelight. This issue could have been far more sensitively handled without all the furore now.

Everyone would like to know which are the best drivers in the world, right?
well, with this tyre, we can see, more or less, who they are. Any idiot knows how to push the throtle to the limit, unabeling us to know who has the best car and who has the best skill. I find it rather interesting that amid all this confusion the ones that emerged as the best are Rai, Vet and Alo.

one could say it’s all down to the car, but i’d like to believe that NOW more than ever we can see the ability of a driver.

I prefer the game as it is know, but God knows that I loved it always. A person that loves Formula 1 will love it always. Those who don’t, well go watch rugby.

Also, the best thing about the F1, for me, is the perfection that one has to have to win. Million pieces have to aline perfectly to win. I prefer the intelectual part of F1.

Of course, i will have tons of people commenting that iâ€™m an idiotâ€¦â€¦

Your not an idiot, Your just wrong :P

The current tyres could be less marginal, More like the 2011 tyres for example & we would still see driver skill come to the front.

Also if the current tyres & general way F1 is promote skill more then why do we hear comments from drivers about how the cars are actually much easier & far less physical to drive now because of how far off the limit there been forced to drive them?

The sad part of all this is that as far as im concerned the current F1 isn’t even that fun to watch because there isn’t actually any racing going on, Its now a tyre management formula & not a racing series.

As a Lotus fan. i have to admit i hate these changes. Raikkonen did his race on used tires. Shows teams should get used to tires. RBR won spain 2011 and vettel went to the pits 4 times. there were no complaint then